Alone and Unwanted?
by Heather68
Summary: Remus is feeling old, unwanted and depressed when a secret admirer Harry sends him flowers, and other gifts.


**A/N: Hi, yeah don't be mad that I did this story before a new chapter of TTWM but it was for a contest and my mind was short circuiting and ideas for the other story just weren't ciomign but they are now! Anyhow here's a lovely four page one shot that I enjoyed writing so I hope you enjoy reading it!**

**Challenge for :Remus is feeling old, unwanted and depressed when a secret admirer (Harry) sends him flowers, and other gifts. (keikokin)**

Maybe it was the room he was currently sitting in, but it was probably him. Remus Lupin took another swig of fire whiskey and then tossed the bottle into the roaring fire in front of him. To anyone looking in they might assume that his anger was directed towards the parchment on the small wood table by his armchair. That might have been the case a few moments ago, but not anymore. Remus rested his head against the back of his carmine squishy armchair and closed his eyes. No the parchment wasn't the problem anymore, his problem was with himself.

He should have been used to it by now. At age 42 he had 10 years to be used to it. Remus should have seen it coming, he never should have even asked. Now he felt worse then ever. Old, tired, he stood up and looked in the mirror hanging over the fireplace. His eyes were sunken in, dark rings appeared to have made their home under his tired amber eyes. He couldn't count the number of grey hairs he had now, nor did he want to, but the proof was right in front of him. Remus Lupin, once young and carefree, was now a lonely old man.

Perhaps it was for the best that Shelia turned him down. It was a real opener. He never once considered himself terribly old until that moment. The tawny owl had swooped in depositing the letter on his lap then took off without waiting for a reply. That should have tipped him off to the contents of his mail, but he was attempting to be optimistic, not that it helped or anything.

_Remus,_

_I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you sooner,_

_I'd love to go out with you next Sunday but unfortunately I have a (there was a small blot of ink here) previous engagement. I'm sorry._

_Shelia_

Now Remus is an amicable person, who likes to think the best of people, but even he could tell that Shelia really wasn't sorry that she couldn't go out with him. He sighed and tossed the offending letter into the crackling fire. The flames turned green for a few seconds before going back to the normal merry red and orange color. He continued to stare broodily into the ever happy looking fire until…

THAWK! A rather awkward package smacked him upside the head. Remus swore viciously as he gingerly rubbed his sore ear. Looking down at the rather lumpy package, Remus grumped. Why would anyone be sending him something? Especially this late in the day.

He picked up the package with a guarded expression. He cast a few spells over it to makes sure their weren't any spells surrounding it. Satisfied with his findings, he tore off the paper and blinked then blinked again. There sitting on his lap was a ball of black fur. Cautiously, he prodded the fluff ball and grinned when it stretched to reveal a very alive cat albeit a very stiff one. But who would send him a cat? Searching the wrappings on the ground and careful to not disturb the slumbering kitten he scooped up the misplaced note off the ground and scanned it's contents quickly for their really wasn't much to it.

_Remus,_

_A companion to keep you company during your darkest times._

Remus didn't know what to make of the note. It wasn't even signed, which was bloody inconsiderate if you asked him. He turned the note over and over again to see if the person left any indication as to who they were. Obviously, the person had impeccable timing, he mused stroking the small cat's fur. It wasn't a magical creature just a run of the mill kitten but it's warm presence on his lap was comforting in ways Remus found he couldn't describe. It was then he noticed a collar and name tag. Fingering it gently he read the inscription.

_Snuffles_

Remus' breathing became erratic as he was suddenly inundated with memories. It wasn't fair. His fingers curled against the arm rest as he forced back the painful image of his best friend dieing. Shaking his head forcefully to dispel the abrupt departure of the one person who understood him, he tremblingly patted the kittens black fur. The kitten stretched in Remus' lap revealing four perfectly white paws.

He chuckled softly, gently scratching the cat's back making it shiver and purr softly. Well, whoever had sent him the kitten he was thankful. He gazed at the name tag again then paused mid stroke.

'Snuffles' wasn't a common name for a pet, especially a cat. The odds that someone named an almost completely black cat that were one in a million. The kitten purred contentedly.

"What secret are you hiding?" Remus asked the kitten. It continued to ignore him which suited Remus just fine. Still, his mind was conjuring many order members faces to mind but none of them seemed to likely to send him anything spontaneously.

He sighed and closed his eyes and before he realized what was going on there was a knock at the door. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and accidentally dropped the small kitten on the ground. It mewled and darted off under his bed. Remus watched it go before opening the door. On the other side stood Hermione Granger. Now twenty three she was a vision of loveliness and as nice as it was to see her Remus couldn't help but question why she was here.

"Hello Remus," Hermione said, tapping a thick envelope uneasily against the side of her leg. She seemed to be waiting for something but for what Remus would never know as Hermione handed the envelope to him, pecked him on the cheek then disapparated with a crack.

Remus pinched himself hard just to make sure he wasn't still sleeping because the events of the last few hours certainly seemed surreal enough. Once reassured that he was not in fact still slumbering in his room, he went back to his chair and sat down heavily. The envelope was ordinary enough if you didn't discount the deep emerald green ink that had been used. He opened the envelope slowly even though it had been Hermione who had handed it to him in the first place.

He saw Snuffles peering at him from behind the door in his bedroom and he snapped his fingers rapidly. The white toed kitten slinked around the doorframe and sauntered over to him before winding his way through Remus' legs pausing as Remus scratched him behind the ears.

Again to Remus' shock it was the same handwriting. Not even reading the letter his eyes drifted down to the end of the letter and was pleasantly surprised to see it signed.

_Emerald_

Apparently the person hadn't wanted to sign his or her real name but they were dropping clues. The person knew him fairly well and also had a thing for the color green.

He then emptied the rest of the contents into his hand and gasped. There sat two tickets to tomorrow night's opera. Whoever had sent them was obviously very confident in the fact that he'd show. Examining the tickets again, he put them aside and reached for the discarded letter.

And realized in blanketed shock that whomever had sent him the tickets weren't all that great with words. Or perhaps he or she had been in a rush because the letter had one simple sentence on it.

_Meet me in front of the theatre._

Remus couldn't stop the slight smile that graced his features. The handwriting wasn't sloppy but it wasn't loopy and the wording wasn't flowery like a woman's. And that narrowed things down considerably. It had to be someone in the order that much was clear and they had to have liked Sirius when he was still alive. Remus frowned slightly as he mentally started going through all the male member of the order who knew Sirius and he well enough and was surprised to find that the list wasn't all that long just three or four people. But as it was it was getting late, and Remus felt himself drifting off in his chair. Snuffles had leapt up on the arm of Remus' chair and was butting his head against Remus arm in a plea for attention. Remus scooped the kitten up in his arms and brought it with him into his bedroom. He dropped the tiny kitten on the bed and went about his nightly routine.

Climbing beneath the covers of his bed, Remus coaxed the little kitten up to where he could pat him. Snuffles moved slowly across the comforter and settled just out of reach. Remus rolled his eyes and glared at the impertinence of the kitten but didn't do anything about it.

Morning came faster then he thought it would. He began to busy himself in the kitchen making himself a cup of tea when an owl swooped down and perched on the window sill. Remus stared at it incomprehensibly for a few moments before opening the window to let the creature in.

The brown owl ruffled it's feathers and stuck out it's leg so Remus could remove the small parcel and small it was, miniscule in fact. Remus held the small package between his thumb and forefinger examining it. It looked like a miniature flower. He picked his wand up form the counter it had been lying on and cast the spell to unshrink it and was rewarded. The tiny flower came back to normal size and he finally could see what kind it was.

A flash of insight and he knew unequivocally who had been sending him the gifts and grinned. And while it would make sense that the man he had on mind would send him these things it could also be a clever rouse to misdirect him. He brought the lily up to his nose and breathed in the light fragrance. Snuffles jumped up on the counter he had been leaning against and started chewing on the stem of the flower. Remus gently scratched the cat up and down it's back before going to get a vase to place the flower in. He filled the vase with water then poured some sugar into it then placed the flower into it much to Snuffles distaste.

Remus chuckled at the kitten who had just hopped off the couch and stalked out of the room.

The rest of the day went by in a bit of a blur. Between the mysterious increase in visitors and having to get dressed to go out and discovering he had nothing nice in muggle wear. That had resulted in a rather disastrous shopping trip and he had wound up coming home empty handed and rather irritable which Snuffles picked up on right away and made it his point to stay away from his grouchy owner. As the clock drew near seven Remus put on some casual muggle wear and apparated to the alley right behind the theatre.

Peering around the corner a small grin graced Remus' visage the first one since early that morning and suddenly he felt guilty. The sour mood he had been in all day slowly dissipated as he hid in the shadows and watched with growing sadness as the young man's face grew more and more depressed as the seconds went on. His expressive green eyes looked defeated and not just a little hurt. Steeling his resolve, Remus stepped out of the shadows and tapped the raven haired man on the shoulder.

Harry whirled around, emerald eyes widened in shock.

"I thought you weren't going to show," Harry whispered, head bowed. eyes downcast, and fidgeted with something in his pant pocket.

Remus chuckled. "And miss this?" He shook his head and tipped Harry's head up so he was looking directly at him. He gazed searchingly in the depths of Harry's eyes and saw excitement, nervousness, relief, fear, and something else indistinguishable.

"What are you wearing?" Harry finally managed to ask, breaking their hold over one another. He pulled at the cotton t-shirt that the werewolf was wearing. In doing so he brought Remus back into the shadows.

"Clothes I hope," Remus joked. Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed Remus' hand and placed it on the pen he had just pulled out of his pocket. "Where are we going?"

Harry grinned and pecked Remus on the cheek, earning a deep blush from the older man, before they both disappeared from the alley.

**A/N: So what do ya'll think? Was it good? Bad? Does it need something extra?**


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